(Naples) Mads Pedersen won stage six of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday after a two-man breakaway was caught near the finish line.
Andreas Leknessund kept his pink overall leader’s jersey.
Pedersen sprang ahead of Jonathan Milan and Pascal Ackermann at the end of a group sprint at the end of a sublime 162 km stage whose start and finish were located in Naples.
Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke looked like serious contenders for victory after they launched their breakaway early in the stage, but were swallowed up by the peloton with less than 300 meters to go. De Marchi nodded in disbelief, but he gave Clarke the hug anyway as they reached the finish area.
” I am very happy. That’s why we came here, said Pedersen. It was difficult to catch the breakaway. We had to rely on each of our team-mates very early in the stage. »
Derek Gee of Ottawa finished the stage in the main pack in 52e position. The cyclist of the Israel-Premier Tech team points to 50e place in the general classification, 12:20 from Leknessund.
The riders battled it out at two category passes near Mount Vesuvius, then paraded through Sorento and along the Amalfi Coast on a warm, calm day.
The weather contrasted with that of the day before, when Mother Nature had caused numerous falls in the peloton.
One of the favorites to win the “Giro”, Remco Evenepoel, suffered quite a bit after being involved in two of these incidents. However, he did not seem too affected by his misfortunes the day before, finishing comfortably in the heart of the main peloton 28 seconds behind the eventual winner, Leknessund.
Aurélien Paret-Peintre is third overall, 30 seconds behind Leknessund.
Despite numerous crashes the day before, only one rider was unable to start the sixth stage: Clément Russo. The 28-year-old Frenchman has been diagnosed with coronavirus.
The “Giro” will move on Friday towards the mountains, on the occasion of the seventh stage. The 218 km route will connect Capua to Campo Imperatore, and will include the ascent of the Gran Sasso d’Italia, a first category pass which will culminate at more than 2000 m.
“It’s a great day to wear the pink leader’s jersey,” Leknessund said. We were also aiming for a stage victory with Marius Mayrhofer, but it didn’t work out. I’m ready for the mountain stage tomorrow. I will do everything in my power to keep the pink jersey. »
The Giro d’Italia will end in Rome on May 28.